1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cover assembly that is structured to removably enclose mattresses, and in particular, but not exclusively, the type designed for use in hospitals or like medical treatment facilities. The cover assembly includes a casing formed of a high strength, liquid impermeable material and having a variety of other structural or performance features which are preferred for use in medical facilities. The casing preferably includes a reinforcement assembly including one or more panels secured to predetermined portions of the casing so as to more reliably support portions of the user""s body in a manner which will resist the heavier portion of the torso from sinking into the mattress. As such, the present invention is structured to significantly reduce, if not eliminate back pain or other discomfort commonly associated with prolonged bed rest.
2. Description of the Related Art
In virtually all hospitals, clinics or like medical facilities designed to provide health care on an xe2x80x9cin-patientxe2x80x9d basis, the mattress is an indispensable piece of equipment which is often overlooked, at least in terms of providing the patient with comfortable and recuperative health care. A large number of mattresses, of the type which are structurally adapted for use on adjustable hospital beds, are typically required, dependent of course upon the intended patient capacity for any given medical facility. Because of the large number of mattresses utilized in hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, etc., the cost associated with the initial purchase of mattresses in medical facilities consumes a significant portion of an institution""s budget. Therefore, there may be a tendency for such institutions to accept mattresses that are manufactured to technically come within the physical and operational parameters required of medical type mattresses, but which are designed and manufactured to be simple and to be sold at a sufficiently low price so as to at least partially relieve the financial burden of initially stocking a medical facility and/or of periodically replacing mattresses over a period of time.
Accordingly, it is generally well accepted that mattresses of the type used on hospital beds, gurneys, stretchers, etc. could be constructed to provide significantly more support to a patient""s body than are routinely offered by such mattresses. More in particular, mattresses intended for use in the medical field oftentimes do not provide adequate support for all or at least the major portions of a patient""s body, particularly in situations where the patient is required to undergo a long period of bed rest. In fact, and as noted above, there is probably a tendency for hospitals and like medical facilities to accept mattresses which are less than optimal in terms of offering adequate, prolonged support to a patient""s body in order to obtain a lower and more economical price. While such mattresses are assumed to be functional for their general intended purposes, it is believed by the inventor hereof that most, if not all hospital mattresses do not provide sufficient support of the patient""s body, particularly in the general area of the trunk of the body or mid-body portion where the majority of the patient""s weight is concentrated. It is understandable that one goal in the construction of mattresses is to produce a less firm or softer feel to the patient, which frequently results in the aforementioned heavier portions of the patient""s body sinking or receding into the mattress. While the softer feel may initially seem to be more comfortable or even luxurious to a patient, if the patient is required or instructed to rest for long periods of time in a reclined orientation on such a mattress, it frequently results in at least some discomfort to that area of the patient""s body which sinks into the mattress and/or to adjacent areas. It is believed by the inventor hereof that such patients will experience discomfort most often in the aforementioned mid-body region which normally comprises the heaviest overall portion of the patient""s body. To at least some extent, some patient discomfort will likely be associated with a prolonged period of bed rest, which cannot be avoided. Even if hospital mattresses were made to be more firm, there would likely be some significant reduction in the patient""s comfort, and further, the mattress would still not be likely to offer adequate support to those areas where the majority of a patient""s body weight is concentrated.
From the above, it should be apparent that in the field of art relating to the construction and design of mattresses, and in particular, medical mattresses which are designed to be occupied by a patient continuously or for prolonged periods of time, there remain some fairly significant problems which have yet to be addressed. For example, while the inventor hereof believes that conventionally designed hospital mattresses add to the discomfort of patients confined to bed rest for prolonged periods, it is also believed by the inventor hereof that such mattresses are also prone to having to be replaced more often than is necessary due to their lack of offering any type of reinforcement to those areas on which a majority of the patients"" weight is supported. Of course, if any type of improved hospital mattress were developed and/or an assembly for improving the features offered by conventional hospital mattresses, it/they would likely have to be structurally adapted for use with an electrically powered, mechanically adjustable hospital bed, while at the same time providing improved support and at least some generally acceptable level of comfort to a majority of patients. In addition, if any such improved hospital mattress were developed and/or an assembly for improving the features offered by conventional hospital mattresses, it/they would need to be capable of being manufactured so as to be offered at a selling price which is well within the budgetary constraints of most hospitals, other medical facilities or like institutions. It is believed by the inventor hereof that it would be preferable to develop an assembly for improving the features offered by conventional hospital mattresses, which is capable of being easily applied to such mattresses already in use by a medical facility, regardless of the intended amount of support such mattresses are originally designed to provide. Any such assembly should be capable of being removably attached or otherwise secured to a conventional hospital mattresses in a manner which provides additional reinforcing support to the heavier portions of a patient""s body, so that the tendency of those portions of the body to recede or sink into the mattress is reduced, with the likely result that a primary cause of back pain or like discomfort to the patient(s) confined to bed rest is reduced, if not eliminated.
The present invention is designed to address these and other needs which remain in the art and is directed to a reinforcement assembly which, in at least one embodiment, is incorporated into the structure of a mattress cover in an operative position relative to a mattress, so as to provide supplementary support to predetermined portions of a person""s body when he or she is oriented in an at least partially reclined position on the mattress. The reinforcement assembly of the present invention is therefore structured to provide an additional or supplementary supportive force to those portions of a person""s body which have a tendency to recede or sink to a greater than average depth into the mattress.
A person""s tendency to sink into a mattress is due at least partially to the fact that a person""s body weight is normally concentrated over a specific body area. More specifically, a person of average weight and height normally has the majority of his or her body weight concentrated in an area which may be generally referred to as the trunk and/or xe2x80x9cmid-body portionxe2x80x9d. This mid-body portion is generally defined by the area of the body extending from approximately the mid-back region to the upper thigh portion of a person""s body, immediately below the buttocks. When a person reclines on a mattress in the normal fashion, the normally heavy mid-body portion, will recede or sink to a somewhat greater depth into the mattress, than the other parts of the person""s body extending out from this designated mid-body portion. More specifically, the head, legs, feet, hands, etc. while varying in weight and depending upon the physique of an individual, will not have a tendency to sink into the mattress as much as the heavier mid-body portion. Such a receding body orientation, particularly over extended periods, will frequently result in a back ache or other discomfort to the various parts of a person""s body located generally within the mid-body portion.
In order to overcome the aforementioned problems in the art, the reinforcement assembly of the present invention includes a casing formed of a flexible, high strength, liquid impermeable material and having a hollow interior. The hollow interior of the casing is correspondingly dimensioned and configured to a mattress, with it being intended that the mattress be removably disposed within the hollow interior of the casing. The casing includes an access opening cooperatively dimensioned and disposed so as to allow passage of the mattress therethrough as it is being inserted within or removed from the hollow interior of the casing. Further, the casing includes two primary outer walls normally disposed in spaced relation to one another when the casing is disposed in its operative position, enclosing or surrounding the mattress. In addition, a plurality of appropriately positioned side walls and/or end walls are formed on the casing and are disposed to interconnect the aforementioned two primary outer walls. The casing may be formed by an integral, substantially one piece construction although in more preferred embodiment it will be formed from a plurality of casing segments, which are interconnected to one another by a plurality of elongated seams. Preferably, the casing additionally comprises a reinforcing structure, which can be incorporated into the construction utilizing a plurality of seams, which prevents or significantly resists the seepage of bodily fluids or other liquids into the hollow interior of the casing, and which thereby prevents the mattress from being exposed to any bodily fluids, contaminants, liquid spillage, etc.
The two primary outer walls of the casing are dimensioned and configured to be disposed in overlying relation to the primary exposed surfaces of a mattress. Accordingly, a casing designed for use with a hospital bed or bed structure, other than the type used in a hospital for a gurney or stretcher, can be mounted in covering relation to the mattress, such that either of the outer walls is disposed in overlying relation to the surface or face of the mattress, on which a person is supported. The mattress can then be turned over, such that the opposite side previously defining the under surface of the mattress, can be disposed in an outwardly extending position and be the primary supporting surface on which a person is oriented.
In at least one embodiment, the casing of the present invention is also intended for use on a mattress that is used with a stretcher. Typically, as stretchers are used to move a patient about within a hospital or otherwise, the cover for a stretcher type of mattress includes an attachment structure, such as in the form of an elongated strip of Velcro(trademark) or other hook and loop type fastener formed on an outer, undersurface thereof. The elongated attachment strip is matable and removably securable to a similarly structured strip disposed on the supporting platform or surface of which the stretcher rests. Interconnection of the two attachment strips eliminates or significantly reduces the possibility of the mattress becoming inadvertently dislodged from the stretcher, even when the stretcher is disposed at relatively severe or unusual orientations, such as during the transport of a patient. Accordingly, in one embodiment of the present invention, the casing is designed for use with a stretcher mattress, and which, while incorporating two spaced apart and primary outer walls, only one of such outer walls will be oriented in overlying, covering relation to the surface or face of the mattress that is designed to underlie and support a patient, whereas the opposite outer wall will include an elongated attachment strip mounted thereon for removable securement to the supporting platform for the stretcher mattress.
The casing of the present invention preferably also comprises a reinforcement assembly in all of the various embodiments. The reinforcement assembly includes at least one reinforcing panel secured to at least one of the outer walls of the casing and extending transversely across the corresponding outer walls substantially between and in contiguous relation with the longitudinal, peripheral edges of the outer wall. Further, the dimension and configuration of the reinforcing panel is such as to overly a mid-portion thereof, preferably in spaced relation to the opposite ends of the outer wall and the casing itself, thereby providing a reinforcing, supplementary support, at least to that portion of the casing and mattress on which the patient""s middle body or trunk will be supported. The panel is formed from a flexible, and yet, high strength, durable, tear and abrasion resistant material that is structured to resist the sinking or recessing of a patient""s middle body portion into the mattress. The parts of the casing body which extend outside the aforementioned middle body portion will preferably not include the supplementary, reinforcing support applied thereto, since the head, shoulders, legs, feet, of a patient are not individually of sufficient weight to cause sinking into the mattress. A back ache or other discomfort normally associated with the unsupported orientation of the patient, such as when the reinforcing panel is not utilized, is thereby prevented or significantly reduced.
In at least one embodiment of the present invention, the casing includes two reinforcing panels each mounted on the interior of the casing in confronting engagement with different ones of the outer walls and in generally spaced relation to the opposite ends of the respective outer walls, such that each panel is disposed to provide supplementary support to the middle body portion as versus the parts of the body outside of the mid-body portion region. Since the casing of this embodiment is intended for use on a hospital bed mattress as versus a stretcher mattress, the mattress may be turned repeatedly without requiring the removal of the casing from the mattress. When the casing of the present invention is intended for use on a stretcher mattress, preferably only a single reinforcing panel is mounted within the hollow interior in direct confronting relation to a mid-portion of the primary outer wall, which does not include the aforementioned elongated attachment strip used to removably secure the casing and the mattress contained therein to the stretcher.
It should also be noted that the casing as well as the reinforcing panels are preferably formed from the high strength, durable, liquid impermeable material of the type set forth above. In addition, the material may also have certain other characteristics such as being electrically conductive, flame retardant, antibacterial, nonallergenic, etc. By way of example, materials from which the casing, as well as the one or more reinforcing panels may be formed and manufactured are commercially available under the trademarks STAPH CHECK(trademark) or ELECTROLITE(trademark), both of which are produced by Herculite Products, Inc. of York, Pa. It is pointed out that other materials having more or less of these desirable characteristics may also be utilized.